


An Awful Shame

by loves_books



Category: The A-Team (2010), The A-Team - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 14:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11015277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loves_books/pseuds/loves_books
Summary: Hannibal deserved better than Face. He deserved so much more, and Murdock had tried to make it clear that he wanted desperately to be that something more, if Hannibal wanted him.





	An Awful Shame

Hannibal deserved better. 

Hannibal was a good man. He was one of the very best, kind and handsome and brilliant. He somehow managed to be both strong and gentle in the very same moment. The perfect gentleman soldier.

Face was a good man too, of course, or at least he tried to be. He was kind and handsome and brilliant too, but he was also needy and clingy and flirty and flighty, and Hannibal just deserved so much better.

Seeing them together had always been strangely hard for Murdock, and it was growing more difficult day by day, especially since he’d started taking his new medication. He saw everything so much more clearly now thanks to those magical little pink pills.

Murdock had to bite his own tongue every time Face stole a kiss from Hannibal, fighting the urge to leap across the tent and pull them apart. He had to grit his teeth when Face flirted with a mark, knowing that Hannibal knew exactly what was going on, and thinking about how sad the older man must feel.

Face was Murdock’s friend, though, and Murdock knew he really did try to be a good man. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t be properly faithful, flirting with everyone and everything instead of thinking only about Hannibal. Wasn’t his fault that he didn’t really know what love truly was. 

The team all knew about Face’s horrible childhood, and he was quite clearly touch-starved, soaking up every drop of attention whenever Hannibal offered it, or whenever BA doled out a rare backslap or manly embrace. And Face would curl up contentedly with Murdock on the sofa for hours on end when they were on leave, playing video games or watching cartoons, sometimes falling asleep right there with his head on Murdock’s shoulder until Hannibal came to carry him off to bed.

It wasn’t Face’s fault, but a man like Hannibal really deserved better. He deserved someone who would love him with all his body and soul, someone who would put his needs first. Someone who would understand when he needed to be The Colonel and when he needed to be Just John.

Face didn’t always get that, in Murdock’s opinion. Even when they were out in the field, in the middle of a gunfight or deep undercover, Murdock would see Face smile at Hannibal in that particular way of his, or something would be whispered over a private radio link that would make their colonel blush.

Somehow they still kept it professional, though, and always had done. They got the job done and they did it well; the rest of them wouldn’t stand for it otherwise. BA would beat Face to a pulp if he thought he was distracting Hannibal for even a second, or risking the mission in any way, and as for Murdock, well…

Hannibal just let Face get away with far too much, in his humble opinion. He was too kind at heart, perhaps, and obviously unwilling to hurt his poor little orphaned Lieutenant. They’d been together a long time, too, Murdock knew that much, as colleagues then friends then lovers. A break-up was always so difficult.

But Hannibal deserved better than Face. He deserved so much more, and Murdock had tried to make it clear that he wanted desperately to be that something more, if Hannibal wanted him. And Hannibal did want him, Murdock could tell. 

It was in the way Hannibal sat up with him on long nights when Murdock didn’t want to sleep, talking to him about all sorts of things, and happily answering Murdock’s curious questions. He would tell stories about his childhood and his family, about his hopes for the future, and Murdock would feel deeply honoured even as he revelled in the warmth of Hannibal’s body next to his own.

He was sure Face didn’t know half of those stories. Hell, Face probably hadn’t even thought to ask, but Murdock did. 

It was also in the way Hannibal smiled so brightly when Murdock told him about what Billy had been up to, and in the easy way they could sit in silence for hours, shoulder to shoulder. Face could never do that. Face couldn’t be quiet for even a minute from what Murdock had seen, not unless it was a life or death situation, seeming to need the reassurance of hearing the sound of his own voice at all times.

Murdock knew he should take his friend to one side, perhaps. Tell it to him straight, tell him to back off and let Hannibal move on. He should reassure Face that they could still be a team, obviously, and in reality very little would have to change, except for the fact that Hannibal would sleep with Murdock rather than Face. It would all work out fine.

Hannibal could sleep with Murdock at long last. Murdock had seen the older man in the shower, naturally, and he could barely wait, practically salivating at the very thought. He was sure he’d caught Hannibal looking at him too – just one more sign that they were destined to be together.

Murdock really did see everything so much more clearly now, and he felt more stable than he had in years, thanks to his wonderful new pills. It was as if the blinkers had been lifted from his eyes, or as if the sun had suddenly come out from behind a cloud. 

It was a shame, perhaps, that Face couldn’t take the same little pink pills. Perhaps then he’d be able to see that Hannibal was obviously falling in love with Murdock. If Face knew, if Murdock did have the difficult talk with him, then he might do the honourable thing and step aside – but no, no, it was far more likely that he’d come up with the sickening idea of the three of them ‘sharing’. The more the merrier; that seemed to be Face’s motto in life, and Hannibal would indulge him, of course, because he was a good and kind man.

No, Murdock knew Face would never let Hannibal go, not while he was alive, and Murdock also knew in his heart that Hannibal deserved so much better than being stuck with such a greedy and obviously selfish lover as Face.

But then again, looking on the bright side, they lived dangerous lives, and faced the possibility of certain death on a near-daily basis. It really would be an awful shame if Face caught a stray bullet one day, while they were out on a mission in the middle of nowhere. An awful shame if Hannibal had to watch his poor little Lieutenant breathing his very last, helpless to do anything but hold his hand as Face’s blood stained the golden desert sands a bright red. Might even be friendly fire. Accidents had been known to happen, after all, from time to time.

Maybe on the next mission. 

It would be an awful shame, yes. But Murdock would be there to offer comfort and pick up the pieces.

**Author's Note:**

> With enormous apologies to Murdock fans! This was written for a prompt from Jullian Gray: 
> 
> Face and Hannibal are together (either for a long time or just recently) but another team member is not happy about it. The jealous team member can tell themselves that it’s because they don’t like seeing Hannibal getting used by Face, however in reality it is because they are upset that Face has what they secretly want. What lengths will they take to get Hannibal away from Face, and at what cost to not only Hannibal and Face’s relationship but to the team’s as well.


End file.
